Twins!

No I am NOT pregnant. :)  The twins are also not a body part (or two).  haha

The girls are now twins - Riley and Madi that is.  I'll explain it later in the post.

Today was a good, but mentally tiring day.  Mentally tiring because I felt as though I was juggling three balls at one time and each one had a different need at the same time - ALL day long.  Usually there's a little lull.  Not today :)

Our van was in need of an oil change as well as an inspection. Since we leave for Killeen tomorrow morning, I didn't want to go without taking care of both of them.  So I decided this morning to take the three girls to Firestone Auto.  We put together some fun bags - Madi brought some paper and things to draw with, Riley brought some blocks and a blanket and Julia had her snacks and some little people and of course, whatever everyone else brought.  We left at 8am.

Thankfully, there weren't very many people in the waiting area - like four others.  So we took the corner area of the seating area and I put the pink blanket down so Jules would have somewhere to sit to put her blocks and people and such.  The girls each chose a chair to sit in.  Madi started drawing right away, Riley played blocks and Julia had her snack.

Then the girls started to play hide and seek.  No one around seemed to mind and since they were staying away from the counter and playing very quietly, I didn't care.  However, Riley wouldn't cover her eyes to count.  So Madi asked if Julia could find them.  I took Jules to a window and counted to 15.  Then I let Julia go down on the floor to see if she could find the girls.  Mind you, this place is not large at all!  So the hiding places were limited.  But Julia loved finding them and giggled so much.  The girls were really really well behaved.  We didn't get any dirty looks and a few of the people even said "Hi!" to Julia as she smiled at them.  We only did a few rounds of it and then we went back to our spots.

The girls had a granola bar for a snack.  I read a short book to Riley.  Julia played blocks and little people.  Riley and Madi went to the glass door to watch them work on the car.  As long as the men weren't bothered and they didn't block people, I let them watch.  Thankfully no one came in or out during those ten minutes.

The last ten minutes the girls played on their iPod and iPod Touch.  I packed up the blocks and asked the girls to help clean up - which they did without a second reminder.  We checked out and after an hour and a half of changing what they were doing every ten minutes, we left.  I was lesson planning in my head - geared it toward the four year old age when you want to rotate activities every 8-12 minutes to keep them focused.  Worked great!  But my brain was tired.

When we got home, Julia went to bed and I asked Madi if she wanted to do some study time now or later.  She chose now, but fell asleep on her bed for a little while.  So I had her come downstairs and she did some cursive practice, cinquain poetry, metaphors/simile work and eleven math problems.  She did great on the cursive and English work, but only had four of the eleven math problems correct.  So I sat down with her and went over it.  She had rushed through it and I told her that she really needed to take her time.  We worked through the problems together and all was fine.

We ate lunch and then the girls played.  Madi is in need of some new pjs so I started looking online at several stores to decide where we should look.  Couldn't believe the prices!!  Toddler and baby or women pjs are so much cheaper than the tween clothing.  Pants alone are $19.95 and shorts were $14.95 - this is at Old Navy, Macy's, Gap...  So I found some decent prices that looked decent on sale at Macy's and thought we'd go to see if they were of good quality.  Come to find out, the sale price was on the individual pieces - not the set as they were shown online.  So it was $8 for a tank and $8 for shorts that had the drawstring fraying.  I told Madi we'd keep looking.

We walked into the Gap.  They were having a huge sale of 30% off the kid's clothing that was already on the sale racks.  But to make it even better, since I have a Gap card, they give an additional 25% off of that.  We found the pj section and there were tank tops for $7.99 - 30% - 25% so they were only $4 or so.  We found some cute pants that were still $19.95 so I told Madi we'd pass on those.  But then in the back of the store they had some cute capri pants that were only $5 after the discounts!  So I got her a few pairs of capris, tanks, a few tshirts, a pair of shorts, jeans (only $6!!) and a cute skirt.

Riley really, really wanted to get some pjs to look like Madi.  So I got her two sets of the same clothes so they could be twins.  They look SO cute!!!  They were invited to swim at my parents' house again tonight so Jeremy took them over and they dressed in one of their pj outfits.  They were so excited.

We leave for Killeen tomorrow morning around 9am or so.  Should be a really fun weekend!

Pj Twins:

Babysitting Course and Time with Friends

Today was super fun.  We took the morning doing our usual stuff and Madi really loved talking with you a few times on the phone.  She made two new friends today - Madison and Shelby.  I went over Madison's house to pick her up and since Shelby was there and I knew she was going to the babysitting class as well, I invited her to come over too.  The girls did the usual things - hide and seek, Wii, lunch, dessert, and just play time in the playroom.  They decided to use the foam blocks to do what they call "Wipeout Kids."  They stack the wedges on top of each other and then slide on the top one or jump on their knees on it.  Or slide down the slide into it.  Madi has a five minute video of it.  Lots of laughter.  Tons of giggling.  And of course, lots and lots of talking.  Girls are really good at that :)

Then Madison's mom picked the girls up and they met up with Charidy.  The four girls went to the Frisco Fire Safety Town.
(website: http://www.friscotexas.gov/safetytown/Pages/default.aspx)

They took a babysitting class and learned how to change babies, feed them, do cpr and take care of them.  They also talked about fire safety, where to go in tornado weather, and basic safety information.  The course was free.  Then Charidy's mom dropped her off at home.

After dinner tonight, I took Riley and Madi to my parents' house for a late night swim.  They even got to have the pool lights turned on as well as the bubbles in the hot tub.  Of course, they loved it.

We read the Bible when we got home and then read the next chapter of our most recent book "Chasing Vermeer."  Great book.  Was on the list of all of the private schools for summer reading.

Madi also tried her first WebQuest.  She did a "Map Adventure."  Using our address, she had figure out two different ways to write directions to our house.  So we printed the map and then using N,S,E, and W, she had to write out directions from the Main Street near us.  This will also be a good map for her to use when bike riding.  Madi also had to fill out a worksheet that we printed that had her list six types of maps and what information each map gives.  So she finished all of it.  Wasn't as in-depth as I was hoping it would be, but it was useful and a start.  WebQuests are really great when used correctly.  This one was a little too basic and easy.  I have one on famous Texans and Americans that will cover the main people she would have learned about in third grade.  So I plan to have her do that soon.

Nothing too exciting tomorrow planned.  Possibly getting my car inspected.  Woo hoo!  We'll pack for Poppi and Grammy's house so we can leave Friday morning, but other than that, we're just going to play tomorrow!  And maybe make homemade bread... if I remember!

You Belong to Me

This has become our anthem.  Taylor Swift rocks and we are rocking out with her - in the car anyway.  This is the girls' favorite song.  Jules loves to bob her head to it the whole time

Good day today.  Madi and Julia went over Kami's house for most of the day until 3:30pm.  I took Riley to her four year old check-up and then she stayed with me for the rest of the day.  Had her play on the computer during the few lessons I had.  Madi had fun with Kenzie.

When we got home, I vacuumed and Madi and Riley played for a very short time.  I gave Madi the option to put her laundry away now or later.  She chose right then.  Only she didn't just put away the laundry that was in the hamper.  She wanted to put her formal clothes in the closet and everything else in the dresser.  The pile on the bed was incredible.  I let her do it her way and when I came back in a little later, I gave her a few tips to help her find places for everything as it was not fitting in the dresser.  So I explained what to hang (sweatshirts, not cotton shirts;  jeans, skirts and anything bulky;  don't want to stretch out the shoulders of her shirts)  and she organized all of her drawers the way she wanted them.  I also showed her how to hang things in the closet by color and the type of clothing they are.  All pants together.  All skirts together.  Put shirts by color.  Etc...   When we were finished, she loved it and was very excited about how it all looked.  She thought it looked neat. I tried to explain why to put shirts by color (so if she's looking for a certain shirt, she doesn't have to search high and low for it - that way it saves time when we're in a hurry or just time in general).

Madi also did about 40 minutes of math work tonight.  Finished the entire math section of her TAKS book that you purchased.  We only have 30 some questions or so of English/Writing to do as well as practicing pre-writing and writing skills.  She did great with the math tonight.  I sat with her the entire time while Riley played and Julia ate.  She was very focused and we read the problems together.  Went really well.

Madi is playing Sims now on her iPod and Riley is playing nearby.  We finished the Babysitter's Club book last night so now we'll start another new book tonight.  Or Jeremy will - it's my night with Riley and his night with Madi for the reading part.

Hope you're good!  We won't be leaving anywhere early tomorrow - not until 9:30am - so Madi can call or you can call if you have a chance.

Happy Fourth of July!!

It was a red, white and blue day at the Grant house.  It was only those colors because the girls had blueberries, bananas and strawberries for their dessert.  Was the only true way we celebrated the Fourth of July today.

Our day consisted of going on a trip to Walmart.  All five of us.  Was longggggggggggg....  but the girls were good because they both had their iPod touches.

Then I took Riley and Madi to Barnes and Noble.  They have both finished eight books so I filled out their reading logs.  They each got to choose a free book from a list provided by the store.  They both read their books on the way home.  Was really cute.  Riley created a story to go with the pictures and Madi began reading her book.

Madi did about an hour and a half of math work today.  It was one page with only 12 problems on it.  The math problems were something she could do with good concentration and effort.  The issue was that she didn't want to do it and sat there for long periods of time either resting her head on the table or turned toward us.  Mind you, we had just finished lunch and Riley and Jules were in the room at times.  She was only able to get done with five problems in over an hour.  However, she was purposely taking her time and trying to barter with us to only do a few questions.  We were unrelenting and told her that she would finish the page and possibly more if she was going to argue with us.  Jeremy and I did not have to help her with the problems.  In fact, she got them all correct.  Though we did do the problems at the same time to double check her work and motivate her to do it.  It was all about her effort and whether or not she would try.  She and Jeremy finished up the page in her room while I had the other girls downstairs.  When she finished, she said it was boring.  I just told her that's sometimes how things are and that I'm glad she finished her work.

We talked briefly with her about how when school comes around, she'll have to focus to get her work done.  She can't sit and stare or complain about it because it does no good.  We can't be taking hours to do for her what she can already do for herself.  We don't mind at all helping her when she needs it, but we will not do the work for her.  We kept telling her that if she were to stop wasting time doing nothing and just do the work, she'd actually have more time to play and do other things and be finished faster - much faster.  So we'll see how the study time tomorrow goes.

Tonight went well after dinner.  Madi and I finished the Babysitter's Club book together and she is starting her new book "Pandora...." - I don't remember the rest of the title.  Mixes a little Greek mythology in it which she likes.

She'll be at Kami's with Julia all day tomorrow.  Riley has a doctor appointment and then I have piano students and a crochet lesson in the afternoon.  Wednesday she is having a playdate at our house with another girl named Madison from Ethridge.  Then the other Madison's mom is picking the girls up the same day to do a babysitting class in Frisco with another Ethridge girl named Shelby.  So she'll get to meet a few more friends which will be great.

Madi, Riley and I will be doing a road trip on Friday morning to Killeen to spend the weekend with Poppi and Grammy which will be fun!

Going to the Park

This morning the girls and I walked while Madi rode her bike.  We went down to the park to play in the heat for a few minutes before heading back home.  Then girls watched a Barbie movie.  They are eating lunch at the moment.  Madi finished her lunch and we're helping her with her multiplication (multiplying four numbers by two numbers).

Sweet sisters

Riley chased Madi for almost a quarter of a mile!  

Check out the running outfit!
Socks to the knees were her choice.

Beautiful girl!

And.... wait for it... more swimming!

Today was good.  We woke up, got ready and went to church.  Madi said they talked about perseverance in the Kid's Church.  Riley learned about Noah and the ark.  And we learned about salvation - Romans 6.

We came home for lunch and some computer time.  Jeremy has been playing a game with Madi called Avadon (or something like that).  They're loving it.  He'll have to explain more about it as I have no idea really what it is.

Then we went to my parents' house to do more swimming and had some dinner.  I put Riley and Julia to bed.  Riley, Madi, Jer and I read the story of Jairus and how Jesus healed her as well as his healing of the woman with the issue of blood.  Jeremy is having time with Madi at the moment and they're reading.  I did hear quite a bit of giggling a second ago so they must be having fun!  Hopefully he didn't fall asleep again... hahaha

Talk to you tomorrow!  Madi will be excited to hear your voice again!

How to Go to the Bathroom

When you're having trouble going to the bathroom, it always helps if the rest of your family makes farting noises with their mouths and hands.  (not pictured - me (the photographer) and Riley (the one needing help))

Note:  do not try this without adult supervision.  hahaha